Bethel women fall to Braves

Tuesday

Jan 8, 2013 at 6:08 AMJan 8, 2013 at 6:08 AM

By Mark Schnabel Newton Kansan

The Bethel College women’s basketball team spent so much energy coming back from a 20-point deficit against the Ottawa University Braves, the Threshers didn’t have enough left to finish the game. The Threshers tied the game with 6:32 to play, but was outscored 20-2 in the remaining time. “We see that over and over in basketball games,” Bethel coach Mark Fox said. “You spend so much energy trying to get back into games. You get to a point with four or five minutes to go where you hit a wall. The first thing I asked the players in the locker room was, ‘What was the lesson?’ And to a kid it was come out ready to play in the first half. The second half, that was the team we saw play teams like Graceland and York (non-conference wins). That’s what we’re capable of. We’ve got to play hard every game. They’re trying to do the right thing. We’re young and inexperienced, but inexperience doesn’t cause a lack of effort.” Ottawa, 6-10 overall and 2-4 in KCAC play, was led by Amber Ramsey with 20 points, followed by MiKayla Skidmore with 12, Kelsi Meier with 11 and Shauna McClure with 10. Bethel was led by Lauren Ulrich with 15 points. Katie Regier scored nine points with nine rebounds. Tied 4-4 early, Ottawa made a 9-0 run. Bethel never recovered and trailed by as many as 20 in the period. An Ulrich layup at the buzzer cut Ottawa’s lead to 18 at the half, 36-18. Bethel was just five of 20 shooting with 12 turnovers in the first half. Ottawa was 14 of 27 from the field. Bethel was outrebounded 20-15. Bethel opened the second half with a 6-1 run. Bethel drew as close as three. A McClure trey, Ottawa’s first of the game, stopped the Thresher run. Ottawa got back out by eight, but the Threshers replied with an 8-0 run. One of two Jessica Ebenkamp free throws tied the game with 6:32 in regulation. Aided by BC fouls, Ottawa came back with an 8-0 run of its own. A Meier trey put Ottawa up by 11 with 1:15 to play. The Braves pulled away from the line in the remaining time. “I was really proud of the kids in the second half,” Fox said. Bethel falls to 5-10, 1-5 in KCAC play. Bethel plays at 6 p.m. Thursday at Sterling. The Warriors are 7-9 and coming off a 68-66 win over Kansas Wesleyan. Bethel swept the Warriors in the regular season last year. The Warriors went on to win the conference tournament and reach the NAIA Division II National Tournament. “We have Sterling and Southwestern,” Fox said. “We’ll take them one game at a time. With Sterling, you know what they are going to do and how they are going to do it. It’s a matter of can we defend it. If we can come out with some energy at the start of the game, we should be able to have some at the end with a chance to win it. We’re on a two-game winning streak against them. I’m sure (coach) Lonnie (Kruse) will remind them of that. They don’t lose many games down there.”OTTAWA (6-10, 2-4 KCAC) —Dowell 1-3 2-2 4, Ramsey 5-10 10-15 20, Meier 3-6 4-4 11, McClure 2-7 5-5 10, Neptune 0-4 3-7 3, Skidmore 4-7 4-7 12, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Frazier 1-2 1-2 3, Buckles 0-1 0-0 0, Boore 2-4 1-1 5, TOTALS 18-44 30-43 68. BETHEL (5-10, 1-5 KCAC) — Durant 4-8 0-0 8, Ebenkamp 0-3 2-6 2, Ulrich 5-15 4-4 15, Regier 2-4 5-6 9, Wilkerson 0-1 3-4 3, Bria.Bates 0-2 0-0 0, Zerger 0-2 0-0 0, Scott 1-3 0-0 2, Brit.Bates 0-0 0-0 0, Tschetter 2-4 4-10 8, Bright 1-5 0-0 3, TOTALS 15-47 18-30 50. Ottawa 36 32 —62 Bethel 18 32 —50 Total fouls — OU 24, BC 32. Technical fouls — none. Fouled out — BC: Durant, Wilkerson, Ulrich. 3-point shooting — OU 2-13 (Ramsey 0-1, Meier 1-2, McClure 1-6, Neptune 0-1, Skidmore 0-1, Buckles 0-1, Boore 0-1), BC 2-11 (Ulrich 1-5, Zerger 0-1, Bright 1-5). Rebounds — OU 38 (Ramsey 6, Neptune 6), BC 36 (Regier 9). Assists — OU 5 (five with 1), BC 10 (Ebenkamp 3, Wilkerson 3). Turnovers — OU 19 (Neptune 5, Skidmore 5), BC 21 (Wilkerson 5). Blocked shots — OU 2 (Ramsey 1, Boore 1), BC 3 (three with 1). Steals — OU 9 (Ramsey 2, Skidmore 2), BC 12 (Ulrich 3).